Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

Plan To Consolidate Union for Long-Term Care Workers Wins OK

On Friday, the executive board of Service Employees International Union voted to consolidate long-term care and home health workers into a single union local, sparking opposition from an affected union, the San Francisco Chronicle reports (Raine, San Francisco Chronicle, 1/10).

Under the plan, San Jose-based SEIU Local 521, Los Angeles-based SEIU Local 6434 and some members of Oakland-based United Healthcare Workers West will be combined into a single local.

The proposed local would be the second-largest SEIU branch in the U.S. (Larrubia, Los Angeles Times, 1/11).

SEIU has asked union Executive Vice President Eliseo Medina and Michael Holland, an attorney with experience in union reorganizations, to develop an implementation plan and timeline for the new statewide local within 30 days (Robertson, Sacramento Business Journal, 1/9).

Mary Kay Henry, an executive vice president for SEIU, said the merger would increase union members' influence on policy decisions in California (Los Angeles Times, 1/11).

UHW Opposition

After the SEIU executive committee's vote, UHW sent a letter to SEIU calling for a vote that would let UHW members decide whether to disaffiliate with SEIU.

UHW said that SEIU's constitution permits such a vote to be scheduled as soon as 60 days from Friday.

UHW has long opposed the planned merger (San Francisco Chronicle, 1/10).
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